Far north stung with more bee pests

Biosecurity Queensland says another swarm of asian honeybees has been detected at Yarrabah near Cairns in far north Queensland.

The pest insect was detected on the Atherton Tablelands for the first time in August.

It can carry a mite that beekeepers say could devastate european honeybees.

Biosecurity Queensland's Daryl Mannell says it is possible the new swarm at Yarrabah may have been driven out of another area.

"We've had a lot of smokey situations, it's even on wind currents, so ... they could take off, they don't like smokey [conditions] ... because beekeepers use smoke as part of their process. It's quite possible that's even drive them out," he said.

Mr Mannell says researchers have found the asian honeybee is a bully.

"There's only ... a given amount of flowering sources where they can source nectar and so forth from. So if you've the asian honeybees out-competing the european honeybees, that could seriously impact on the populations of european honeybees," he said.